The Spanish Inquisition
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"Well, then, tell him," insisted Ivan.
"It's just an old violin that I'm unfortunate enough to be bound to for the rest of my life," Kate said. "That's all."
"Rest of your life? That's a bit melodramatic for a kid, isn't it?" Ivan rolled his eyes.
Kate shrugged. "Well, it's the truth. If the violin breaks, I'm dead. That's all there is to it. A lot of evil things happened in our country."
"but how did it come about?" Verra asked.
Vissarion, who had been busy keeping the orphan boy safe and reassured, now told Ivan to keep his peace.
"That is a very long story. But to shorten it for you, some of the more important people have been after Darron and me for a long time; because our family wasn't on their side of some conflict that I know almost nothing about. (They never tell me about those sorts of things, seeing as I'm only ten.) The magic surrounding the violin binds me to it, and if I loose it, our it breaks, then that's the end of me. They've been trying to get at Darron for years now, and as far as I know, they haven't succeded."
Darron drew his breath in sharply and wished that he could tell his little sister the truth.
Lisbeth gritted her teeth and forced herself not to say anything.
"But that's pretty much all I know about the violin," Kate continued. "But for all I know, there could be more."
"Because," he smirked, "I'm weird."Kate nodded and then looked up at Ivan. "Mr. Ivan, I don't get how you can be so opptimistic one minute, and then sarcastic in the extreme the next." She looked rather bewildered.
Ivan mumbled something that couldn't be understood.Vissarion coughed for Ivan's attention. "As if YOUR sorry nether extremity DIDN'T need to be saved recently? I'm sure Dmitri is too smart to think he's able to overcome every danger by force; but sometimes, even having someone to WATCH for danger makes a crucial difference."